Welfare Reform

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his oral answer of 4 July 2012, Official Report, column 900, on welfare reform, what his responsibilities are in respect of welfare and benefit provisions in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Owen Paterson: Social Security, child support and pensions are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), in Great Britain, and for the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland as these are transferred matters.
	Section 87 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 provides for arrangements to ensure that there are single systems of social security, child support and pensions across the United Kingdom.
	I remain in regular contact with both ministers in respect of the welfare reform agenda.

Cabinet

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what bilateral meetings she has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office in the last 12 months.

Cheryl Gillan: I meet with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on a regular basis.

Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many meetings she has had with ministerial colleagues to discuss poverty in Wales since May 2010.

Cheryl Gillan: Both I and the Under-Secretary of State have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues about a range of matters relevant to Wales.
	In March, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), published “Social Justice: Transforming Lives”. Together with the Social Mobility and Child Poverty strategies, it sets out an ambitious approach, aspiring to deliver lasting life change which goes much wider than increases in family income. The strategy is available at the following link:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/social-justice/
	The Welsh Government is responsible for many of the policies involved in tackling poverty. We will work closely with the Welsh Government in delivering our ambitions.

Poverty: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Pontypridd of 3 July 2012, Official Report, column 532W on poverty: children, what the number of children living in poverty in Wales was in each quarter of the last four years; and what estimate she has made of the likely number in each of the next three years.

Cheryl Gillan: The Welsh Government is responsible for many of the policies involved in tackling poverty, including child poverty.
	Information on levels of child poverty in the United Kingdom and Wales, dating back to the three year period 1994-97 and up to the period 2008-09 to 2010-11, is included in the statistics on Households Below Average Income (HBAI). The latest HBAI publication was released by the Department for Work and Pensions on 14 June 2012 and is available at the following link:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/index.php?page=contents
	Disaggregation by geographical regions is presented as three-year averages as single-year regional estimates are considered too volatile. Information for Wales in each quarter of the last four years is therefore not available.
	The level of poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted. While income is important, considering this measure in isolation fails to properly reflect the real experience of poverty. The Government are therefore developing more effective measurements of child poverty which will provide a more accurate picture in Wales and the UK. We will be launching a consultation seeking views on how to do this in the autumn.

Sentencing

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  how many requests he received from the Crown Prosecution Service relating to unduly lenient sentences in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many unduly lenient sentences he referred to the Court of Appeal in each of the last 10 years; what the offence was in each case; and how many times the Court of Appeal found a sentence to be unduly lenient in each year;
	(3)  how many requests he received from victims' families relating to unduly lenient sentences in each of the last 10 years.

Dominic Grieve: Statistics on sentences referred to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient are published annually on the Attorney-General's Office website at:
	http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/ULS/Pages/default.aspx
	The figures show that the Attorney-General and I have referred 117 individual sentences from the year 2011. The Court of Appeal found 97 of these sentences to be unduly lenient. The figures for the preceding years are as follows:
	
		
			  Referred sentences considered by Court of Appeal Sentences found by the Court of Appeal to be Unduly Lenient 
			 2010 77 65 
			 2009 108 77 
			 2008 71 57 
			 2007 106 86 
			 2006 144 113 
			 2005 108 82 
			 2004 137 108 
			 2003 96 88 
			 2002 139 120 
		
	
	These figures do not include those sentences in respect of which a notice of application was lodged with the Court of Appeal and subsequently withdrawn prior to the sentence being considered by the Court of Appeal.
	Information published on the website also shows the offences associated with each Reference to the Court of Appeal for years 2008 to 2011 inclusive, however reliable data for the earlier years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would have to be extracted from individual files.
	Data held by the Attorney-General's Office, but which has not been assured, indicates that in 2011 the Attorney-General and I received requests from the Crown Prosecution Service to consider referring 225 individual sentences to the Court of Appeal as potentially unduly lenient sentences. Equivalent figures for the preceding years are:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 200 
			 2009 223 
			 2008 190 
			 2007 271 
			 2006 247 
			 2005 308 
			 2004 194 
			 2003 238 
			 2002 252 
		
	
	The Attorney-General's Office does not hold the equivalent data for requests received from victims or their families. To provide such information would incur a disproportionate cost as it would have to be extracted from individual files.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions HM Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo has had with the government of that country on the conduct of the elections held in December 2011.

Henry Bellingham: Since the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s presidential and parliamentary elections in November last year, the British ambassador in Kinshasa has made it clear to the DRC Government on several occasions that we support the recommendations of the EU election observation mission report, which include restructuring the electoral commission CENI, establishing a constitutional court to address electoral disputes, and auditing and revising the electoral register.

Israel: Palestinians

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the number of (a) Qassam rockets, (b) Grad rockets and (c) mortar bombs launched into Israeli territory from Gaza (i) since 1 January 2012 and (ii) in June 2012; and what reports he has received of the number of persons (A) killed, (B) seriously injured and (C) slightly injured in such attacks.

Alistair Burt: We remain concerned about continued indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups on Israel, as well as air-strikes and other attacks by the Israeli military on Gaza.
	The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) produce a detailed breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian conflict related casualties every month for the UN OCHA humanitarian monitor report, these can be found at:
	http://www.ochaopt.org
	The Israeli Defence Forces report that over 400 rockets have been fired from Gaza so far this year. During the recent outbreak of violence in June over a 100 rockets were fired into southern Israel, with 10 Israeli civilians injured.

Middle East

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what delegation the UK plans to send to the Helsinki conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference on a nuclear-weapons free Middle East in December 2012.

Alistair Burt: The UK. delegation to the conference on achieving a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone will be determined once further details have been announced by the conference facilitator. These include the date and other practical arrangements. As co-convener of the conference, the UK is committed to its delivery. We fully support the work of the facilitator Mr Jaako Laajava, to bring all parties of the region together to discuss this issue.

RTE

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent meetings he has had with his Irish counterpart on the London bureau of Raidió Teilifís Éireann.

Edward Vaizey: Neither myself, nor the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), have had any meetings with Irish counterparts to discuss this matter.

Subtitling

Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to review the provision of subtitling on all broadcast platforms, including catch-up and on-demand services.

Edward Vaizey: The Government understands that television subtitles on all broadcasting formats are vital if profoundly deaf and hard of hearing people are to have access to television and online TV services. It is for this reason that the Government is committed to maintaining access to broadcasting services for people with sensory impairments and to help ensure that the subtitling offered is of a consistently high standard.
	In May of this year, I hosted an event, together with Intellect and the Royal National Institute for Blind to celebrate the successes made by the UK TV industry over the last 10 years. During this event, the provision of subtitles on all broadcast platforms, including catch-up and on demand services was discussed. The event also looked at the challenges facing the industry, with the advent of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) or connected televisions regarding subtitles of programmes delivered through online channels, video on demand and catch -up TV channels.
	As part of the Communications Review process the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published a paper on the ‘Consumer Perspective’ which, among other things, asks questions about accessibility issues. This will be discussed at the next meeting of the DCMS eAccessibility Forum, and comments on this and other papers can be submitted before 14 September, via the Communications Review website:
	http://dcmscommsreview.readandcomment.com/

Business: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many reports his Department received from small businesses in Barnsley Central constituency required to pay breakage fees from swap protection contracts in each of the last three years.

Mark Hoban: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Quantitative Easing

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  on how many occasions he has received notice from the Bank of England that it would support quantative easing in the latest period for which figures are available; what the value was of the proposed quantative easing on each such occasion; and on how many occasions he supported such an easing;
	(2)  if he will make it policy that his Department controls the money that is released through quantitative easing;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the implications for the economy of his Department not controlling the process of quantitative easing.

Mark Hoban: Quantitative easing (QE), or asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, is implemented via the Asset Purchase Facility (APF), a subsidiary company of the Bank of England established in January 2009. QE was authorised in March 2009 by the then Chancellor in a published exchange of letters with the Governor of the Bank of England.
	Decisions on the scale and speed of QE are those of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which has operational responsibility for monetary policy as set out in the Bank of England Act 1998. QE is an additional policy tool to Bank Rate in order to enable the MPC to meet the inflation target in the medium term.
	Given that HM Treasury indemnifies the Bank for any losses it makes arising out of the use of the APF, the Chancellor authorises, at the MPC's request, changes in the maximum amount of assets that can be purchased.
	The MPC voted for an increase in asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at the following times, which the then Chancellor authorised in published exchanges of letters with the Governor: March 2009 by £75 billion; May 2009 to a total of £125 billion; August 2009 to a total of £175 billion; and November 2009 to a total of £200 billion.
	The Chancellor had made clear that he would follow the arrangements put in place in 2009 for authorising further asset purchases. The MPC has requested, and the Chancellor has authorised, an increase in the ceiling of asset purchases financed by the issuance in central bank reserves in October 2011 to a total of £250 billion; in February 2012 to a total of £325 billion; and in July 2012 to a total of £375 billion.
	As the Chancellor's letters have made clear, monetary policy continues to have a critical role in supporting the economy as the Government delivers on its commitment to fiscal consolidation and it remains the primary tool for responding to changes in the economic outlook.

Alcoholic Drinks: Scotland

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to her Department's consultation on minimum alcohol pricing, what information her Department has gathered on the (a) proportion of alcohol sales and (b) types of drink which have increased in price in Scotland as a result of minimum alcohol pricing.

James Brokenshire: The Scottish Government has not yet brought their minimum unit pricing legislation into force. To accompany the forthcoming consultation, the UK Government will produce an impact assessment that will consider the impact of minimum unit pricing in England and Wales. The assessment will refer to the most recent available evidence and analysis relating to alcohol sales and the impact on different types of alcoholic drinks.

Extradition: EU Action

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the UK participates in EU decision number SCH/Com-ex (96) decl 6 rev 2 on extradition; and what assessment she has made of the effects for the UK of that decision.

Damian Green: holding answer 9 July 2012
	The Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states, by virtue of Article 31(e), replaces the extradition provisions (Title 3, Chapter 4) of the Schengen Acquis. The Acquis is the legal basis for this declaration so it is considered that this declaration has been superseded by the EAW FD—which is given effect by parts 1 and 3 of the Extradition Act.

Immigration Controls

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on her border control policy; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), routinely receives representations relating to border control policy and regularly meets officials to discuss policy. Information relating to the type of representations is not held centrally and cannot be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Licensing Laws

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the use by local authorities of powers against problem drinking and licensed premises that are the source of drunken disorder.

James Brokenshire: In 2010, the Government carried out an extensive public consultation on alcohol licensing. Following this analysis, the Government legislated via the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 to rebalance the Licensing Act 2003 in favour of local communities. The Act includes new powers for local authorities and the police to tackle problem premises and alcohol-related disorder. The Government has also set out further steps to tackle problem drinking in the Alcohol Strategy, published in March 2012, and will consult publicly on key new measures shortly.

Missing Persons

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to encourage police, health, local government and other agencies to co-operate and share information on missing person cases.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government published its Missing Children and Adults strategy in December last year which set out clearly the roles and responsibilities of all agencies in tackling missing persons cases. In particular the strategy outlines the importance of information sharing between all agencies and provides examples of good practice in local information sharing including the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub model.
	The strategy invites all local areas to review the arrangements they have in place to ensure they are delivering the best service they can to missing people and, following publication of the strategy, the Home Office are working with local, national and voluntary sector partners to encourage implementation including through the better sharing of information in missing children and adults cases.

Missing Persons

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to support the families of missing persons.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government published its Missing Children and Adults strategy in December last year which set out clearly the roles and responsibilities of all agencies in tackling missing persons cases.
	In particular, one of its main objectives is to provide missing people and their families with support and guidance, ensuring they are referred promptly to support services by the police and that families understand how and where to access help and support. The Government is providing direct grant funding support to the charity Missing People to help deliver their 24-hour help line support service (116 000) which missing children, adults and their families can call or text to get access to advice and support.

Terrorism: EU Action

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Government has (a) issued and (b) received requests for judicial assistance and enforcement of judgements under Article 4 of EU Council Decision 2005/671/JHA in each year since 2006; and how many of such requests have been granted.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 28 June 2012
	We attach high importance to the exchange of information and co-operation in relation to terrorism offences however we do not record the name of the legal instrument under which such requests are issued and received.

Blue Badge Scheme

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the number of blue badge holders who will (a) cease to be automatically eligible for a blue badge and (b) cease to be eligible for assessment for a blue badge, under each of the three options set out in the consultation document. Personal Independence Payment and Eligibility for a Blue Badge.

Norman Baker: Eligibility for Personal Independence Payments is being assessed on a different basis to Disability Living Allowance. None of the options therefore replicate the existing eligibility criteria for a Blue Badge as this is not possible.
	My Department has indicatively modelled the potential costs and benefits of the three options presented using assumptions sourced from available DfT and DWP data sets. The results of the modelling and the assumptions are presented in the consultation document. However, detailed information on some of the potential impacts is not available. It is not therefore possible to provide precise estimates of the number of existing badge holders who would become ineligible under some options, or those currently ineligible who would become eligible. We have asked in the consultation for disabled people and their representative groups to let us know if they believe they may be affected by particular options.
	If someone is not eligible for Personal Independence Payment, they would still be able to apply for a badge directly to their local authority under the ‘with further assessment’ criteria. If a person's eligibility is in doubt, the local authority will refer them for an independent mobility assessment.
	The Department's preferred option is Option 3 as outlined in the consultation as we would not expect this proposal to significantly affect the overall numbers of people eligible for a badge.

Diabetes

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the total number was of unplanned hospital admissions involving patients with a form of diabetes in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what the total number was of hospital bed days taken up by patients with diabetes in each year since 1997.

Paul Burstow: The following table identifies the number of finished admission episodes where there was either a primary or a secondary diagnosis of diabetes in England from 1997-98 to 2010-11, for non-elective hospital admissions.
	A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	
		
			  Episodes 
			 1997-98 189,283 
			 1998-99 206,193 
			 1999-2000 225,272 
			 2000-01 237,975 
			 2001-02 255,717 
			 2002-03 287,326 
			 2003-04 319,136 
			 2004-05 359,775 
			 2005-06 401,025 
			 2006-07 429,517 
			 2007-08 461,410 
			 2008-09 513,851 
			 2009-10 570,365 
			 2010-11 615,586 
		
	
	The following table identifies the number of finished consultant episode bed days where there was either a primary or a secondary diagnosis of diabetes in England from 1997-98 to 2010-11.
	This data should not be described as a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion and does not account for admissions that had started but not finished within the financial year.
	
		
			  Episodes 
			 1997-98 3,223,707 
			 1998-99 3,389,391 
			 1999-2000 3,608,950 
			 2000-01 3,889,916 
			 2001-02 4,223,874 
			 2002-03 4,831,110 
			 2003-04 5,059,325 
			 2004-05 5,319,268 
			 2005-06 5,577,981 
			 2006-07 5,554,183 
			 2007-08 5,719,773 
			 2008-09 6,095,138 
			 2009-10 6,548,166 
			 2010-11 6,678,441

Manchester Declaration

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent contribution his Department and its non-departmental bodies and agencies have made to implementation of the 2005 Manchester Declaration.

Simon Burns: The Government published in May 2012 its information strategy for health and care in England, ‘The power, of information—Putting all of us in control of the health and care information we need’. This sets a 10-year framework to harness information and new technologies to achieve higher quality care and improve outcomes for patients and service users.
	A copy of the publication has already been placed in the Library and further information is available at:
	www.informationstrategy.dh.gov.uk
	This strategy aligns with the European Union actions on eHealth through the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-20.

Common Fisheries Policy

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 25 June 2012, Official Report, column 17W, on Commons Fisheries Policy, what agreement was reached at the meeting on 12 June 2012 on arrangements for providing member states to take non-discriminatory measures for the conservation and management of fish stocks which apply to foreign vessels fishing within their 12-mile limits.

Richard Benyon: The General Approach agreed at the Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 12/13 June, maintains the current derogation setting out member state control over fishery activities in waters from 0 to 12 nautical miles. This includes provision to apply non discriminatory conservation and management measures in the 0 to 12 nautical mile zone.
	Where such measures are liable to affect fishing vessels of other member states, they shall be adopted only after consultation with the Commission, relevant member states and relevant Advisory Councils. Member states may set a reasonable deadline for consultation on draft measures, but this should not be shorter than one month.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Business

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Deputy Prime Minister on mandatory greenhouse gas reporting for companies.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 9 July 2012
	The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), has frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of important issues, including mandatory corporate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.

Housing: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) council house, (b) housing association and (c) private sector housing units were completed in each London borough in (i) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13 to date; and how many he expects to be completed in 2013.

Grant Shapps: Statistics on house building in each English local authority are published on the Department for Communities and Local Government website in live table 253 at the following link.
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/housebuilding/livetables/
	The Department does not forecast levels of overall house building.
	From the 1 April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London. The Mayor has clearly stated that over the next three years he anticipates delivering 55,000 affordable homes within London. Within the settlement letter agreed between this Department and the Greater London authority we are expecting them to deliver 36,000 affordable homes by March 2015.

Roads: Accidents

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to provide face-to-face support to those who are bereaved or seriously injured in road accidents;
	(2)  how much funding he allocated to support victims of (a) burglary and (b) road accidents in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations by Brake on support for road crash victims.

Crispin Blunt: In each of the three years 2011-12 to 2013-14 the Ministry of Justice has allocated £125,000 to support victims of burglary and £277,606 to support those bereaved or injured by road traffic offending.
	The funding in relation to road traffic offending goes to four organisations: the Road Victims Trust, Aftermath, Brake and Roadpeace. All except Brake provide face-to-face support.
	Any victim of crime is also eligible to receive support from Victim Support which receives £38 million a year in grant funding from the Ministry of Justice.
	In its response to the consultation ‘Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses’ the Government committed to doing more for victims of road traffic offending and we will work with interested parties to identify and examine the options for doing so. The Government does not consider it feasible to extend coverage broadly to anyone bereaved through a road traffic accident or seriously injured by one.

Armed Forces: Pay

Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2012, Official Report, columns 678-9W, on armed forces: pay, what the nature is of the future payments; and whether they are adjusted to claim back salaries automatically paid to service personnel in respect of the period after their death and before the month end.

Andrew Robathan: Future payments relate to any additional sum due to a deceased serviceman or woman that would normally be paid with salary. These can occur where there is a backdated increase in the individual's salary, introduction of a new allowance, or increase in the rate at which an allowance is paid that includes a period before the death of an individual.
	We never ask families of those killed in service to pay money back; reconciliation of the individual's pay account is made as soon as all the information is available to us. Adjustments of future payments are made to ensure families are paid all monies to which they are entitled.

Armed Forces: Vaccination

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of severe adverse reaction due to administration of vaccinations and inoculations leading to (a) the death of service personnel and (b) disablement causing medical discharge from the services have occurred in each of the last five years.

Andrew Robathan: Between 2007 and 2011, the latest date for which data is available, there have been no reported UK Regular armed forces personnel deaths, including reservists deployed on operations overseas, caused by severe adverse reaction due to administration of vaccinations and inoculations.
	Between financial years 2006-07 and 2010-11, no UK Regular Royal Navy Service personnel were medically discharged due to a severe adverse reaction due to administration of vaccinations and inoculations. Fewer than five UK Regular Army personnel and fewer than five Regular Royal Air Force personnel were medically discharged with severe adverse reaction due to administration of vaccinations and inoculations, but only as a contributory factor and not as a primary factor.
	Data for medical discharges in the UK Regular armed forces for 2011-12 will be published on 12 July 2012 and will be available on the following website:
	www.dasa.mod.uk

Iraq-Kuwait Conflict

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what vaccinations, inoculations and other biological and chemical pre-treatments were administered to Armed Forces personnel prior to deployment on Operation Granby.

Andrew Robathan: The information requested is available in the Ministry of Defence published paper entitled: “"Background to the use of Medical Countermeasures to protect British Forces during the Gulf War (Operation Granby)”. This paper discussed the background to the use of medical countermeasures not only in terms of the scientific issues involved, but also of procurement and other matters which were raised by Gulf veterans.
	The paper is available on the MOD website at:
	http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/86D81B65-F0B0-46E4-8BCC-50DD4F1FF584/0/Oct97MedicalCountermeasurepaper1.pdf
	and is available in the Library of the House.

Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs that will be created in the UK as a result of the Norway-UK energy partnership for sustainable growth.

Charles Hendry: During a visit to Oslo on 6-7 June, the Prime Ministers announced a UK-Norway energy partnership and billions of pounds of new investment by UK and Norwegian companies. The announcement can be found at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_072/pn12_072.aspx
	These investments have the potential to create thousands of jobs in the UK. Details include:
	Statoil's further £12 billion investment developing Mariner-Bressay North Sea oil fields will create 800 to 1,000 new jobs, including 200 to 300 jobs at a new operations centre in Aberdeen;
	Aker Solutions creating 1,300 jobs in London.
	Forewind Consortium's development of Dogger Bank offshore wind farm could create many thousands of jobs.

Fuel Poverty

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of fuel poverty of recent increases in domestic energy tariffs.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change published its latest annual, fuel poverty statistics in May 2012. This report projected 3.9 million households to be in fuel poverty in 2012 in England, an increase of 0.4 million households from 2010 levels (the latest year for which actual data is available).
	It is not possible to isolate the effect of tariff changes (either increases or, as seen in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter, decreases) on projected fuel poverty levels in 2012. This is because there are many factors that determine whether a household is in fuel poverty or not, and these factors are not independent of each other.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what selection criteria were used by his Department when allocating the £200 million of funding pledged by his Department to incentivise take-up of the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The principle use of the £200 million funding is expected to be an incentive payment scheme which will reward households that take early action to have energy efficiency measures installed through the Green Deal.
	Further details on the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be announced later in the year.

Poverty: Young People

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people under the age of 18 were living below the poverty line in the UK in each of the last five years; and what steps he is taking to tackle the problem of youth poverty.

Maria Miller: The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, absolute low income, combined low income and material deprivation and persistent poverty, all before housing costs have been taken into account.
	Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in households with relative low income, absolute low income and combined low income and material deprivation are published in the “Households Below Average Income” (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living. The datasets that underlie the HBAI series can be used to estimate the proportion of people under the age of 18 in poverty by these measures.
	
		
			 Proportion of people under the age of 18 in relative low income, absolute low income and combined low income and material deprivation, before housing costs, in the UK 2006/07-2010/11 
			 Percentage 
			  Relative low income Absolute low income Combined low income and material deprivation (1) 
			 2006/07 22 13 16 
			 2007/08 23 14 17 
			 2008/09 22 13 17 
			 2009/10 20 11 16 
			 2010/11 18 11 14 
			 (1) Proportion of dependent children (see Note 6) 
		
	
	The Government published its first strategy to tackle child poverty in April 2011. The strategy draws together the Government's radical programme of welfare and education reform. It underpins the Government's ambition for every child to realise their potential and reflects its belief that reducing poverty is about more than lifting families' incomes above an arbitrary line. It demonstrates that the Government are making a sustained, long-term attempt to lift people out of not only income poverty, but poverty of aspiration and poverty of outcomes. The child poverty strategy sets out how the Government will tackle the root causes of poverty such as worklessness, educational failure, debt, poor health and family breakdown, thereby raising the life chances of poorer children and breaking the cycle of entrenched intergenerational poverty.
	It is particularly important that during this time of economic difficulty we ensure that a generation of young people is not left behind. The Government are making £126 million of new money available as part of the Youth Contract to give teenagers opportunities to train, work and get their lives on track. Under this Government, apprenticeship starts have increased at a record rate, with growth across all age ranges, in all sectors and throughout the country. In 2010/11, there were 131,700 apprenticeship starts for 16-18 year-olds—an increase of 12.8% on 2009/10.
	Notes:
	1. These statistics are based on households below average income (HBAI) data sourced from the 2010/11 Family Resources survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living and is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai_arc
	2. These figures have been presented on a before housing costs basis. That means housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, buildings insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income.
	3. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.
	4. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year.
	5. Proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
	6. Based on the FRS data, it is not possible to calculate material deprivation for all people under the age of 18 so the proportion of dependent children experiencing combined low income and material deprivation is provided. A dependent child is defined as an individual aged under 16. A person will also be defined as a child if they are 16 to 19 years old and they are: not married nor in a civil partnership nor living with a partner; living with parents; in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training.
	7. The measures in the Child Poverty Act 2010 are defined as:
	Relative poverty: children living in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of contemporary median household income.
	Absolute poverty: children living in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of 1998/99 median household income held constant in real terms.
	Low income and material deprivation: percentage of children living in households in material deprivation and with less than 70% of contemporary median household income.
	Persistent poverty: children living in households who have had equivalised incomes below 60% of median household income for at least three out of the last four years.
	8. In the past, persistent poverty measurement has been based on the British Household Panel survey, which has now been subsumed into the much larger Understanding Society survey. There is no publication for 2009 as there is a gap in the data as the respondents are moved into the understanding society sample. This means the last data covers the period 2005-08 and has not been reported here.

The Sahel

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in the Sahel.

Stephen O'Brien: 18 million people across the Sahel remain at risk of food shortages. I visited Niger and Senegal in late June to assess the humanitarian situation in the Sahel for myself. The UK Government has responded swiftly and is providing lifesaving aid to 1.6 million people across the region.

0.7% Development Aid Target

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the Prime Minister and other Ministerial colleagues on enshrining in law spending on international development equal to 0.7% national income.

Andrew Mitchell: I am in regular discussions with my colleagues on the coalition's Government's development priorities, including enshrining the zero point seven commitment into law.

Developing Countries: Family Planning

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  if he will use the upcoming London Summit on Family Planning to consider the link between child marriage and fertility and maternal health outcomes;
	(2)  if he will encourage governments and donors making commitments at the upcoming London Summit on Family Planning to also commit to fund projects addressing early and forced marriage, sexual violence and social barriers to contraceptive access;
	(3)  if he will be encourage governments and donors making commitments at the upcoming London Summit on Family Planning to also commit to implement legal and policy changes that will address early and forced marriage;
	(4)  if he will encourage governments and donors making commitments at the upcoming London Summit on Family Planning to also commit to implement legal and policy changes that will address social barriers to women and girls accessing family planning and other health services in developing countries.

Alan Duncan: The London Summit on Family Planning aims to support the right of women and girls to decide, freely and for themselves, whether, when, and how many children they have. At its core is the objective of saving lives and empowering girls and women to be able to make decisions about their own future. Over the last year, UK investment as given 1 million additional women in developing countries access to modern methods of contraception. Much more needs to be done, which is why we are co-hosting the summit with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
	The summit aims to galvanise unprecedented political and financial commitment to meet the unmet need of an additional 120 million women who want to avoid or delay pregnancy. Significant political, policy and financial commitments by donors .and developing countries are anticipated.
	Addressing wider social and cultural barriers to women's and girls' empowerment will be essential to achieving the summit's objectives. Building the support of men, families, and communities, and ensuring laws and policies are in place to support women's and girls' empowerment and their sexual and reproductive health and rights, is critical.
	The summit recognises the link between violence against women and girls, coerced sex and unintended pregnancies. There are an estimated 14 million births to adolescents every year, before they are physically, emotionally or economically prepared. Many of these girls are married. Girls who can delay marriage and their first pregnancy are at less risk of death or disability from complications arising from pregnancy, childbirth and unsafe abortion, as these are a leading cause of death among young women aged 15 to 19. They are also more likely to stay in school and secure productive employment.
	There will be a focus on these issues throughout the different sessions of the summit itself on 11 July. Commitments sought by the summit include measures to address these wider issues and it is anticipated that participants will make specific commitments to address social and cultural barriers.